30 INTRODUCTION. 



procally by parent birds and their young ; for the 

 young know the notes of their parents, and the 

 parents those of their own brood, amongst all the 

 young broods of other birds of the same species 

 in the neighbourhood ; and this they do, as dis- 

 tinctly as the ewe knows the bleat of its own 

 lamb, or the lamb the cry of its own mother, 

 amongst a large flock. With regard to the note 

 of alarm, birds send forth on the approach of their 

 natural enemies, whether a hawk, an owl, or a 

 cat, we consider it to be a general language per- 

 fectly understood by all small birds, though each 

 species has a note peculiar to itself. This note 

 differs in sound from the note of fear or alai'm 

 given by them when man approaches near their 

 nests. — This last seems confined to a species, — 

 but this general alarm note, (which is under- 

 stood by all small birds,) we woxild call their war- 

 whoop or gathering-cry, — for it is a true, natural 

 slogan. All the notes comprised in the song of 

 birds convey delight to the mind of a lover of na- 

 ture ; but the bird-fanciers only prize their love- 

 warble and notes of defiance ; — these notes, and 

 these only, he considers to be their song. The 

 musical notes of birds, whether of love or war, are 

 sweet, and really charming in themselves ; but 



